


Our Happy Never After

by KimRomanov



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Growing Up, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, I did add my character, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Mostly Canon Complient, Sibling Rivalry, Slight Canon Divergence, Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter), first wizarding war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22116013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimRomanov/pseuds/KimRomanov
Summary: There have never been many people in Belladonna's life: her proud pureblood mother, and her two best friends. More she doesn't need. Together with -and yet apart from- Lily and Severus, Belladonna attends Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. But growing up during a war is though; definitely when your best friends are divided between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and everyone thinks your friendships are questionable. In the end, no one can make it through the war without picking their side. No matter how hard you try; neutrality isn't possible.And then there there are Regulus and Sirius Black, who seem convinced to stir up Belladonna's life even more...
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Regulus Black/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	1. The Statutes of Secrecy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DorijnVanamo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DorijnVanamo/gifts).



When I was growing up, I couldn’t fathom why my mother, my proud pureblood mother, would think of living amongst Muggles and raising her daughter there. If it had been a tiny village, I could have understood, but a large town like Cokeworth was the furthest away from anything that could have felt magical. It was even less understandable when I heard my mother call for the hundred time: “Remember the statutes, Belladonna!” when I left the house. The statutes of secrecy, ensuring the safety of all creatures of magic from persecution by muggles; or fancy talk for don’t show your magic to anyone or the muggles will kill you. I understood Mother was scared to be found out, and at that time I thought the perfect solution would be to… you know, go live in a wizard community instead. Although, I was glad we never moved: it would have meant missing the friends I made in the neighbourhood. There were no wizards or witches, so I ended up becoming friends with some Muggle children. Mother allowed me to play with them, and visit their houses, but I had to uphold the statutes and never –“Never, ever, Belladonna!”- invite anyone into our home.

“Azkaban is not a place where you want to end up! So, we uphold the statutes.” My mother had never been very original with her warnings, but she instilled a deep fear for the wizard prison. Every now and then, I read in the daily prophet that the ministry of magic was creating more and more dementors to guard Azkaban. For everyone’s protection, they maintained, but I’m sure it was also in the ministry’s interest to have a small army of dementors at the ready. As mother told me, more and more groups that had been repressed by wizards, like werewolves, giants and even house elf sympathizers were finally starting to demand equality for all.

But those weren’t things I had to worry about. My entire world existed out of our house, and the friends I had made while playing outside. When the weather didn’t allow playing outside, I could be found at the Evans household. Lily was rather curious to see where I lived, and Petunia kept asking her sister why. According to Petunia, their home was far superior to any house in the city, and refused to even entertain the thought anything else. Petunia was a few years older than me, and while she could be fun, I always knew she was only hanging out with us to keep an eye on her sister. Lily was only one year older than I, and we got along great. She was my best friend. On countless occasions I almost blurted out something magic related, only to be stopped by a little voice in my head that sounded quite like my mother going _“The statutes, Belladonna! Not even your best friend! Remember Azkaban!”_ That my mother didn’t even know who my best friend was, or who I was playing with at all, didn’t seem to bother her. I knew she always placed a spell on me before I left so she could track me, and would know if I went places I wasn’t supposed to be. It was enough for her, and so she didn’t have to interact with muggles at all. Merlin forbid that the proud Athena Greengrass would have to bring herself to interact with _those_ _Muggles_. Perhaps the fact that my mother didn’t knew who I was befriending, made it possible for Lily and me to become as close as we were. And so, Lily trusted me with a secret she had been dying to show me. We believed to be alone when Lily levitated the little flower above her hand. We were proven wrong when Petunia jumped up.

“You’re doing strange again! I’m telling mummy!” she called out, immediately running of. All I could think was _Another witch!_ Finally I could share my secrets! I could show her what mother had me practicing! Someone I didn’t have to watch out for! Away with the statutes! While thinking that, my mother’s stern voice reminded me: no one can know. And I remembered Petunia running off. Did that mean that Lily had broken the statutes of secrecy? That they would drag Lily off to Azkaban?

“Never mind her. I told you she wouldn’t understand.” A boy said, staring at the diminishing Petunia. He introduced himself as Severus Snape. He was a frail boy, wearing rather battered black clothes. I had seem him run around before, found ourselves staring at each other, but somehow never even talked. Apparently, Lily had known him for quite a while, and had showed him her magic too. He had showed her what he could do. Petunia had called them both Freaks that time. The explanation didn’t do anything for my panicking nine year old brain. Both of them had been seen practising magic by Petunia.

“Nobody is dragging anyone off to Azkaban!” And with that battle cry, I grabbed both Lily and Severus home with me. My mother was the smartest person I knew. She would be able to help. 

“Don’t worry, Mother can fix this. I’m sure she knows someone in the Wizengamot that can help you.” I tried to calm the others down. Only, neither of them really felt distressed, confused at most. Didn’t they understand? What they had done?

I, off course, realised exactly what I had done when my mother, eyes wide, stared at me and my friends standing in the Livingroom. Her teacup made its way towards the floor and without thinking, I stopped it from falling before it fell to pieces. Broken china wasn’t going to make this day any better.

“You can do it too!” Lily had whispered in awe, and smiled at me. Mother didn’t smile.

“Belladonna Greengrass! I told you… I warned you..” mother started sternly, yet out of breath.

“Mother, Lily and Severus showed Petunia their magic. It was an accident. You can’t let them take them to Azkaban.” I pleaded with my mother, while Lily stared around: off course it was the first time she had seen the waving portraits and pictures, the floating candles and the little old house elf wandering around. Severus stood, rather uncomfortable, next to her.

“Lily?” my mother had asked. I could understand that she was confused, because they had never met, but mother looked almost as pale as if I had told her that I showed my magic to the entire city.

“Ah, yes, forgot to introduce myself. Lily Evans, ma’am. I live a few streets away.” She stretched her little hand out towards my mother. For a second the woman only stared, but eventually, grasped the little hand in her own and shook it.

“Athena Greengrass.” She muttered, probably more out of habit that with the intention to introduce. It had taken me years to understand my mothers reaction.

“I never told her about my magic,” I told mother softly. “But we were playing, and she showed me, and… then Severus… and now I have…Can’t you do anything?” I had asked her distraught. That that was what made my mother smile, surprised me most of all.

“It’s fine, Donna. Calm down, dear. No one will take your friends away from you. Lily, as I recall, I don’t think your parents have any magical abilities, do they? Or your sister?” She asked, carefully studying the girl.

“No Ma’am. Not my parents, not Tuny. Although… mom says she has magic kisses.” Lily answered shyly.

“Then you’re a … muggleborn witch. A witch without magical parent. As you might have guessed, Belladonna and I are also witches.” Mother told her. Then her eyes had drifted to my other companion, with a questioning look.

“Severus Snape, Mrs Greengrass. I live at Spinners End. My mother’s a witch too. Her name is Eileen Prince.” The boy told her. Mother nodded curtly.

“I remember your mother. We were sorted into the same house, growing up.” She told him, which made Severus almost breathe in relief.

My mother had gone on to explain Lily a bit about our world. About the statutes of secrecy, off course, but also about the professor of Hogwarts school for magic and wizardry that would come to explain all to her parents and offer her a place to study magic.

“Really? Oh I can’t wait. When will he come?” Lily had excitedly asked my mother.

“He, or she, will come the summer you turn eleven. Because only then, you can attend the school.” My mother explained patiently.

“When you have a magical parent, they can teach you a few things already, though.” Severus chimed in. Mother grinned, looking up and down the boy.

“And I’m sure your mother has told you, that we’re not supposed to.” Which made Severus look a tad bit worried, until mother smiled and winked. She, off course, had been telling me about spells and such. I hadn’t actually practiced anything, even a pureblood would get frowns when she took her nine year old to get a wand, but theoretical knowledge was worth a lot too.

“But then we’ll go the first year, and you’ll only go the year after.” Lily interrupted us, looking sad.

“Then you can teach me over the summer!” I tried to get Lily enthusiastic again. Off course it was sad that we couldn’t go to school together. But I wouldn’t be far behind.

“You will do no such thing.” My mother reprimanded us sternly. “You’ll only be taught by adults. Children teaching other children magic is just plain dangerous. And why else do we have Hogwarts!?” She worried so, even though it would be more than two years before Lily and Severus would attend school.


	2. Letters

In the beginning, Severus and I had our differences. Somehow, I managed to push all of his buttons. It got so bad that it ended up with me blasted rather rudely into a three. He stomped off angrily. When both of them returned after a while, Severus a bit calmer, we were greeted with the stern face of my mother. In the end we made the deal that we’d rather play at any of the houses, instead of the big grass field where anyone could see us. And so, we ended up with a merry group of three again. Most of the time we could be found at my house: Severus said his father didn’t like it when he brought anyone over, and he didn’t like spending time at home, and my mother was willing to… look the other way if we accidently used our magic while playing. Off course we also played at Lily’s house, where we every now and then had to help remind one of the others that we couldn’t use magic, which made Lily’s parents a tad suspicious of the games we played. But at least there was no more need for secrets between the three of us. If Petunia hadn’t liked the combo between Lily and me, she definitely hated the addition of Severus. She seemed to try to follow us around. She refused to join us in games, tho, saying that she was only around to tell her parents if Lily was doing something “freaky” again.

Mother, had taken a liking for my two best friends, especially for Lily. It made her a very welcome guest at our house, and every now and then she would sleep over. The three of us had gotten that close, that I had created the habit of coming by unannounced, and letting myself in through the back door. Lily’s mother, Sophia, didn’t seem to mind all that much, and even if Edward, Mister Evans, looked… off when I just walked in, he never said anything about it.

On one of those days, years after meeting Severus and the flower incident, as it was later dubbed, I walked into the Evans home to find everyone gathered in the living room.   
“Ah, the young miss… Greengrass. How nice of you to join us.” An older man that I hadn’t seen before, called out when he saw me walk in, which made Lily’s parents glance rather curiously from me to the old man. The Evans Family was sitting on the couch, the man sat in a chair I didn’t recognise. The man introduced himself as Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, and that was a name I knew.

“Headmaster Dumbledore, I hope I’m not interrupting?” I nodded politely as I was taught. I was well raised, and member of a respected pureblood family, after all.

“Not at all, Belladonna, I was just explaining Lily and her family about her abilities. Explaining all about muggleborns and off course about Hogwarts.” He told me.

“I’ve been waiting for you to visit for a while now, professor.” Lily said to the stunned reaction of her parents next to her. 

“Belladonna and her mother have already explained a lot about the magical community.” She explained with a dazzling smile. She had been looking forward to this for years.

“Did she now?” I thought I heard Lily’s father mutter, but everyone ignored it so it might have just been my imagination. Professor Dumbledore seemed to try to stare a hole into my head, which I didn’t understand because my mother told me he was rather friendly towards students.

“Well, then there is only the matter of school supplies. Those can be bought in London, in Diagon Alley, the magical shopping street. Myself or one of the other teachers would be happy to accompany Lily to pick up her books, robes, wand and anything else she might need. Unless you’ve thought of other arrangements?” Dumbledore wondered out loud. I found him staring at me again.

“Mother could take us! We could take Severus as well.” I exclaimed. While Lily’s father seemed to protest, Lily’s mother thought it was a wonderful idea. My mother wasn’t as convinced when I told her what I had offered. But Lily and I persevered, and so we set a date to go shopping. Severus would take his mother along as well. Lily’s mother had mentioned that she might want to join, but when she heard that Eileen Snape was coming along as well, she decided against it. Later Lily told me, her mother probably felt as if she would stand out too much among all those witches. 

It was the first time Lily and I would actually spend some time with Severus’ mother, seeing as Severus kept us away from their home. He didn’t really want to talk about his homelife; we knew that Severus didn’t really get along with his muggle father, and that his mother didn’t really either anymore, which caused for an unpleasant environment in the home. From Severus’ rather shabby looking clothes, and the state of the little house in Spinners End, Lily and I gathered that the Snape family wasn’t very well of either.

“I only need some robes,” Severus told us as soon as he arrived. He was followed by a rather uneventful, mostly tired looking woman. Mother shook Eileen’s hand, and made some small talk.

“I’ve got his books already,” Eileen Snape told us with a small smile. It didn’t really seem like a happy smile, though. There was some awkwardness, that mother seemed to want to fix by guiding us to the fireplace, and onto Diagon Alley.

“I need everything.” Lily sighed, looking at the long list of supplies that accompanied her Hogwarts letter. 

“If they are going to Hogwarts, I’m going to need an owl. To send letters.” I quipped. For some reason, my mother disagreed, reminding me she had an owl I could use. The complaint that it wasn’t the same, was completely ignored. But by that time, the three of us were already in awe of the magical bookstore and the owl was easily forgotten. Which is exactly why I didn’t deserve an owl yet. Despite the fact that mother didn’t seem that enthusiastic when we left, she bought us ice cream -Which Eileen assured her she didn’t need to do, but mother insisted-, and what she considered a “small congratulation gift” for Lily and Severus. In the end it was Severus who went home with an owl that day, despite his -half-hearted- protests that it was way to expensive and totally unnecessary. But we had seen him stare longingly at the bird, and had seen how the white owl nipped Severus’ finger affectionately.

“Your name shall be … Asphodel,” Severus said softly to the bird, while Lily declared that the cat she had picked out would be known as Specs. I noticed Eileen smile when she started at her son with his new pet.

“A fitting name for a boy who likes potions.” Eileen said softly, her eyes finding Lily and her cat. Aha, a potions ingredient. I knew I recognised the name from somewhere.

“Isn’t Asphodel a type of Lily?” I asked no one in particular.

“Yes, it is.” Eileen sounded surprised by my question. “Do you know potions it is used in?” She asked, while Severus at the same time as his mother asked “Is it?” While it sounded a bit surprised, it sounded mostly forced. My mother looked down at the bunch of us with a fond look at her face.

While I had thought about the fact that I needed an owl to write Lily and Severus, I seemed to have ignored the main problem I faced once September came and went: my only friends, that I had grown so fond of, left for Hogwarts. Which left me all by myself in Cokeworth, with Petunia -who couldn’t stand me- as my sole company. And mother off course. She kept me busy with basic spell work, charms and potion ingredients, but while I enjoyed learning about them, the only thing I truly looked forward to, were the letters Lily sent every now and then.

_Dearest Belladonna,_

_Hogwarts is amazing! I’m sure you’ll love it here. I can’t wait to see your face when you walk into the great hall! We’ve only just arrived, so we didn’t have classes yet. But once we do, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it. We did immediately got sorted into houses. Severus was placed in Slytherin, I got sorted into Gryffindor. It’s a bit sad that we aren’t in the same house, but maybe next year you’ll join one of us? There are some boys in my house that say that I shouldn’t be friends with Severus, because he is a Slytherin, and that just means we can’t be friends? I don’t know, you should ask your mother, but I think it’s weird. To top it off, one of those boys said his entire family was in Slytherin before him. Shouldn’t that mean that he shouldn’t be allowed to get along with them, either? Ridiculous.  
I really wonder what house you’ll be sorted in. I promise, whatever house you’ll join, we’ll always be the best of friends.   
We miss you already. Severus says he doesn’t, but I know he’s lying._

_I’ve also included a letter for mom, dad and ‘Tuny. Could you give it to them? I thought immediately sending an owl might freak them out a little bit._

_Love, Lily_

Mother smiled at Lily’s enthusiasm when I read Lily’s letter out loud.

“Gryffindor, eh? I can see that. Doesn’t surprise me that the boy joined Slytherin either. He’s ambitious. He might have a bit of a though time, being halfblood and all, but if he’s smart and makes some friends I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Mother mused, half lost in thought. She could know; she was a Slytherin. Although I remembered her telling me that she didn’t really get along with most people there.

“What house do I belong in, you think?” I wondered. I had known the houses and their founders from my bedtime stories when I was younger, but I never really considered where I would go…

“I have my guesses, but I won’t tell you. It’s your choice and I won’t steer you in any direction.” Looking back, knowing the pressure her family had put on her, that was the greatest gift she could have given me. At the time, I just thought she was being dumb for not answering.

“You told me that most of the Greengrass family joined Slytherin. Maybe that’s where I’ll end up? It would make sense, I guess?” Mother stared at me for a while and laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh, but short and hard. She tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Your grandmother would have loved it, wouldn’t have expected anything else. But then, your grandmother wasn’t always right.” She told me, her face stern and serious. I wouldn’t know; my mother didn’t really want to take me to family functions that much. 

_Dear Belladonna,_

_There is so much to learn, it’s amazing! It’s really cool that your mother is teaching you already. You’ll know so much before you even enrol in Hogwarts! You’ll be the top of your class. Severus is really doing his best to study hard. According to the boys in my year, his parents must have taught him some things as well. They say he knows more curses than a sixth year. But aren’t curses supposed to be bad? Or at least harmful? That can’t be right. Severus is not mean. He’s grumpy sometimes, but he’s never been anything but sweet to us, right? It’s true that he doesn’t get along with the boys in my class, but then they aren’t nice to him either. They fight all the time. I’ve tried to talk to Severus about it, and I even considered going to my head of house, professor McGonagall (she teaches transfigurations, it’s truly amazing what she can do!!) to talk to her about it but Severus won’t let me. He won’t even talk to his head of house, professor Slughorn. Severus says he can handle it. Trying to act though. Me telling those boys off didn’t do anything either.  
We don’t have many classes together, but Severus and I do study together in the library. It’s soooooo big, I almost got lost the first time I walked in. There’s just so much to see. It’s even bigger than the one your mother has. And there are ghosts! Just flying around, and owls delivering mail. I know you told me about the owls but there are so many of them! We’ve been here for a few weeks, but I have the feeling I still haven’t seen most of the castle and the grounds. There is this tree that was apparently planted over the summer, according to the other students. Why, I don’t understand. The whomping Willow, the students call it, is a rather violent thing. It attacks anything and anyone that comes close to it. It’s dangerous, but professor Dumbledore told us that everyone is welcome in Hogwarts, and that there is more than appearance. And because there aren’t that many around anymore, or something.   
Anyway, I think I might not have gotten to know the entire castle before you join us, there are so many hallways…   
I have to rush to my next class.   
Severus says hi and waves! _

_Love, Lily_

My mother enjoyed hearing of their tales, and what she and Severus had been up to. Sometimes, when I read her parts of Lily’s letters, she stared off into the distance. She never told me why, or what she was thinking of. There wasn’t that much for me to write back to Lily, apart from the fact that mother had talked to Eileen. Apparently Severus barely wrote anything to his parents; only a few lines at a time. He didn’t write to me either, but that didn’t surprise me. Severus wasn’t that much into.. talking, and when he did, he preferred talking to Lily, off course. 

_Dearest Belladonna,_

_Last weekend I attended my first quidditch match. While a lot of the students seem to think it is the most amazing thing on earth, (it is definitely very magical to see), I don’t get the fuss about it. They all become so competitive. Gryffindor played against Slytherin, which, according to Severus and those horrible boys means that the houses will be “at war” for at least the rest of the week. It’s plain ridiculous.  
I’m sure you’ll understand soon enough why Severus and I dislike the boys in my class so much. Potter and Black are just horrible little boys. They are rude, loud and obnoxious, and always seem to get themselves into trouble. They are almost always accompanied by Pettigrew and Lupin. Lupin can be very nice, he’s just to friendly to stay away from the others, or tell them no. Pettigrew is following them around as if they are amazing and famous or something. I don’t get it. Potter thinks he’s amazing, but I can’t believe that somebody who is as horrendous to Severus can be up to anything good. _

_Anyway, you said you didn’t receive any letters from Severus yet. I don’t get why he’s not writing you, but he just shrugs it off. We’re all friends, aren’t we? He’s been a lot more cranky lately. Even Specs and Asphodel have been trying to cheer him up, which somehow made it worse. Do thank your mother from me again, Specs is the most amazing gift anyone has ever given me, and she’s such a sweetheart.  
I’ve been studying and doing my best to earn my house some more house points, I’m sure you’re aware of the system. I’m forced to gather some points because I’m sure Black and Potter are trying to get Gryffindor into minus points. Maybe Black is a secret undercover Slytherin, trying to make us lose the house cup. I’ll do my best to stop them! ;) _

_I’m looking forwards to seeing you again with Christmas!_

_Love, Lily_

“That girl is going to keep thanking me for that cat until she dies, isn’t she?” my mother had asked when I passed along Lily’s message. I nodded along; Lily had instantly fallen in love with the little kitten. Severus wasn’t that smitten, but I was sure that he spoiled Asphodel to no end. Maybe this professor Mcgonagall or my mother should temporary transfigure Specs into a snake or an owl for a bit. Maybe that could cheer Severus up.

Christmas came and went; Lily and I had a lot of fun catching up. Severus had decided not to go home for Christmas, even if Lily did. We feared it was because he didn’t want to see his father, or hear his parents argue. Lily had wanted to show me some trick she learned, a spell that made snowballs follow people around until they hit you. That is, until my mother suddenly loomed over us and cleared her throat. No magic outside of Hogwarts, she reminded us. Although there was a certain double standard there. Mother had already been trying to teach me some magic, mostly theoretical, though she had muttered something about it not being horrible if I tried them out in the holiday before I went to Hogwarts.

_Dearest Belladonna,_

_Severus and I managed to survive our first exams: we even had quite good marks if I can say so myself. Our potions teacher, professor Slughorn, organised a little end of year party for… Slugclubmembers? It’s some sort of group of students that professor Slughorn believes to have potential or something. It sounds worse than it is. Anyhow; Severus was invited and he asked me along! I’m not as great at potions as Sev is, but professor Slughorn did say that he was impressed with the draught I made in our last class. Even better: he heard from professor McGonagall that_ she _was very pleased with my transfigurations! I believe that is the highest praise I’ll get, and I’ll gladly take it._

_I’m looking forward to spend to summer with just you and Severus again! No more annoying boys to pester us. Say hi to your mom from us, will you?_

_Love, Lily_

Lily’s last letter signalled the change of my life: the summer holiday where I would get my Hogwarts letter! Next time when Lily and Severus left for Hogwarts, I’d be joining them. It was going to be the start of an amazing adventure. Already I was imagining what great fun we’d have; at least the kind of story’s you’ll laugh about when everyone’s a hundred year old and huddled together. Because I was sure, even when we all were reaching a hundred-fifty, we’d all still be the greatest of friends. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, 
> 
> hope you're enjoying the story so far.   
> I'm new on AO3, so i'm still trying to find my way around here.   
> If you have any idea's which tags to add or any other advice, I'd love to hear it.  
> Thanks


	3. Talking of Letters...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belladonna receives her Hogwarts letter, and learns more about herself.

Mother had tried all year to keep my energetic little self occupied with what she called school prep. I had to keep the Greengrass name high, after all. It only made me look forward more to joining Lily and Severus: if this is what mother could teach me, what could a professor do?

Lily and Severus came home with loads of funny stories of things they saw or heard at Hogwarts. Lily hadn’t written about everything so we at least had something to talk about during the summer. That hadn’t been necessary at all. There was one topic of conversation that kept us busy all summer.

Lily and Severus were there when I received my Hogwarts letter: both of them had gotten their list of school supply for the next year, and had swung by, knowing my letter couldn’t be far off. The three of us lay in the grass in the garden, patiently waiting for the owl to come by. Mother seemed to pretend that she didn’t care -because off course I’d receive my letter-, but was fervently searching the skies as we were. Nothing in sight.

And then finally, there it was: a letter fell onto my lap. I was going to Hogwarts! There was only one problem.

“It’s not for me... It’s not addressed to me.” I stammered, reading the name at the front. Belladonna Evans. My name was Greengrass, like my mother. Not Evans. Right? 

“Why wouldn’t it be for you?” My mother had asked surprised, grabbing the letter, maybe a bit to rough. She had always been so sure that I would get my letter; I was a from a noble family and had shown my magic potency early on.

Why did it say Evans? Severus and Lily shared a look, having read along over my shoulder. Mothers face turned white, almost worse than the ghost we had in the attic. Couldn’t this be fixed?

“That’s Lily’s last name?” Severus seemed to ask in confusion. My mind was still trying to come up with explanations; maybe somebody made a mistake because Lily lived around here too, or somebody had confused me with Petunia. Lily, off course, had surpassed that point already.

“Then what was your father’s name?” She asked me, but her eyes were on my mother.

“I don’t know. I don’t really have a father.” I told her truthfully. Mother had always said my name was Greengrass, like her, because I didn’t have a father. So maybe, Lily and Severus had a point… But if Evans was the name of my father…

“Nonsense, you might not know him, but he did exist at one point.” Severus snapped. An angry glare of my mother was enough to silence him.

“I’ll write to professor Dumbledore.” Mother muttered, leaving us in a hurry. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or panicking. 

“A name is just bunch of letters, it’s not important.” Severus seemed to try to cheer me up.

“So maybe that’s your dad’s name? Maybe we’re family? Wouldn’t that be cool?” Lily smiled encouragingly. A few days later we learned that it might not be as _cool_ as we imagined it to be. Not knowing what to do, Severus and Lily had both gone home to their respective families. Mother had come down again, strapping a letter to Zeus paw.

“Get this to Dumbledore, as fast as you can.” She told the owl. After that, she opened the window for him to fly off. Her eyes lingered on me and the empty living room.

“They went home?” she asked. I nodded slowly, mostly lost in thought. I looked up when my mother was suddenly standing next to me, holding me close to her, and kissing the top of my head.

“It’ll all be fine. I’ll fix this.” She tried to assure me, her eyes staring out of the window as if she could force the owl to fly faster that way. Fine, turned out to be a funny term. And it wasn’t really my mother fixing it.

The next morning, breakfast was disrupted by Zeus’ hasty return. While Thimble, our old house elf, fetched some food and water for the owl, mother threw open the windows.

“Dumbledore took his sweet time.” She muttered through clenched teeth, tearing open the letter. Her eyes scanned over the paper, het mouth turning down quickly in annoyance.

“No help at all,” she sighed, immediately setting fire to the paper.

“So I can’t go to Hogwarts?” I might have …asked loudly. Slightly distressed. Enough to scare Thimble, and Zeus, who flew off slightly grumpy.

“Off course you’ll go to Hogwarts. I didn’t mean to scare you. Professor Dumbledore just wrote that he can’t change the name, you can go to school but you’ll be addressed as Evans.” Mother soothed me, even if she didn’t sound calm herself. Then, a slight smile appeared on her face, followed by the ringing of the doorbell.

“Timble, can you let Lily in?” mother asked the house elf. She must had seen the bobbing of red hair through the window. Lily wasn’t in the greatest of moods when she entered, contrary to what mother might have hoped.

“I talked to daddy.” She told my mother, calm yet … confronting. Mother’s smile disappeared.

“Why, I’d like to think you do that more often. Donna talks to me quite often too.” Mother had gotten up, almost looming over Lily.

“Well, I talked to mommy, and she talked to daddy. But I heard enough.” Lily told her. The girl seemed to do her very best to stand her ground against mother.

“And what do you intend to do with wat you learned?” I was seriously missing an important part of the conversation to follow along. However, there was no doubt about it that Lily would tell me the second we were alone.

“She should know. I would want to know. And I … want her to know.” Lily stared at my mother, not breaking contact. Obviously, Lily was a Gryffindor. There was nothing in me that would even consider having such a stare-off with my mother. But then, I wouldn’t have expected mother to be the first to look away. I felt her stare at me, as if she was looking for something. Mother sighed in defeat.

“Then you know that it makes her your responsibility, as well as her reaction.” The fighting spirit seemed to have left her.

“She always will be. Would have always been, anyway.” Lily told mother, grabbing my hand like I had done all those years ago and leading me to the garden.

Lily did tell me, as I had expected. What she told me, I didn’t expect.

“We’re sisters. Half-sisters, that is, but sisters none the less.” She told me, proud and strong. And after that she giggled slightly.

“You’re my little sister. I’ve got a little sister.” As if she still couldn’t believe it herself. I for one, hadn’t known what to think. A sister? I wasn’t used to having siblings: I had always been by myself. Well, before Lily and Severus had come along. Slowly it started clicking all into place. So, Lily and I had the same name because… her father was also my father?   
Not long after, Thimble announced that Severus had arrived. Off course we told him as well. 

“Doesn’t surprise me at all. I thought you were sisters when I saw you two and Petunia run around.” He had muttered, and then continued to ask Lily about some homework they had to do as if it wasn’t that much of a deal. Looking back, Severus’ complete disregard of the subject was probably what calmed me down the most. We were sisters, and that was just normal. Part of live, move on. 

When mother took the three of us to Diagon Alley, to pick up my wand and everything we’d need for school, I noticed her stare at Severus. While Lily and I were busy picking up books, I noticed that mother asked him something. I couldn’t hear what she had asked, but Severus’ answer was clear.

“How? I have eyes and a brain, Mrs Greengrass. They are quite alike after all.”


	4. The year of the exploding cauldrons

_Dear Mother,_

_We’ve arrived safely at the castle. Lily, Severus and I spend the train ride together with an older Gryffindor girl Lily knew. I think her name was Alice. We did get separated when the first year students went to the boats. We were accompanied by the biggest man I have ever seen! I know you won’t ask, so I’ll tell you that I got sorted into Ravenclaw. Lily is very happy for me, although she did think it was a little bit sad that I wasn’t joining her or Severus’ house. Severus seemed a bit confused for a second, but nodded and as usual just ignored everyone and everything._

_The first classes went very well. Professor Flitwick, my head of house, was very pleased with how easy I picked up on the spell work. ;) Professor McGonagall did look a little bit suspicious when we tried our first transfiguration (very successful in my case), and reminded us that magic outside of Hogwarts wasn’t allowed. Lily, Severus and I can only spend our evenings and free hours together, so we make homework together. I get along with my classmates. For now, one of my better friends is Regulus Black. He got sorted into Slytherin, but he’s nice to me. Unfortunately, his older brother is one of the boys that Lily doesn’t get along with. I don’t think that Regulus gets along that well with his brother, so I guess that could mean that we’ll get along perfectly well. I admit I understand Lily’s problems with those boys: I might have gotten a little bit into a fight already but I’m sure it’ll all be fine. How often could I run into them in a school this size?_

_I enjoy charms and defence against the dark arts a lot. Professor Slughorn smiled very brightly when he learned that Lily is my sister, but it seems that he had hoped I was a bit better at potions. It’s definitely something I need to work on, just like my current homework. They don’t spare the first years at all._

_Love always, Belladonna_

Regulus and I shared quite a few of our classes, and seeing that we had met once of twice before at some party where mother had taken me, it seemed only normal to share a desk. I didn’t know anyone else. We got some strange looks from other students, because apparently, different houses usually don’t share tables, but also a surprised nod from professor Mcgonagall.

“Some of you seemed to have forgotten that this school was built for unity, not competition. It’s good to see that there are students who can see past house colours.” The woman said in response to some gossiping students, and awarded both of us some house points.

“An easy way to earn housepoints. We should sit together more often, Greengrass.” Regulus had muttered when Mcgonagall started her lesson. Despite everyone calling me Evans, he had followed Severus’ example and had kept using my mothers’ name to refer to me, to annoyance of my very Slytherin Greengrass cousins.

“Maybe I should tell people to refer to me by some other name, seeing as little Evans keeps running off with mine.” I heard Arcturus Greengrass mention rather loudly when he walked into the library. He was a few years older than me, and one of my very much pureblood cousins. Off course he and his friends didn’t mind to be scolded by Madam Pince, if they could make sure that everyone heard them. Severus had looked up, rolled his eyes, and continued his hushed conversation with Lily. Regulus shot me some sort of apologetic glance from across the room. Because off course, being seen with a half blood like me, he could still justify because my mother was a pureblood Greengrass. But Lily was a whole different matter. He seemed to be very much on the lookout for slytherins who had parents who knew his. It seemed that he particularly feared his mother’s reaction, and Regulus wasn’t in Slytherin because of his bravery. For a second, I considered what this must mean for his older brother, and how it must be for them at home. That was, until the older Black and Potter, almost as if summoned by the mere thought, appeared for the sole purpose of nagging Lily, Severus and me.

“Evans. And little Evans.” I heard Black greet Lily and me. Unfortunately, Little Evans had been a more common way to refer to me, seeing how often Lily and I would be found together, despite being in different years and houses. Almost as if I didn’t have a name of my own. And that was enough to make me grumpy.

“I don’t know what you want, Black, but please, go away before I do something we both regret.” I told him, not even bothering to look up from my books. I heard Potter laugh, and when I did bother to look up -to ask Lily something, not to look at them!- I was Potter punch his friend playfully.

“You girls wanna hang out this weekend? They say it’s gonna snow. We could have a snowball fight. Even Snivellus could join: I’m sure somebody needs a practice target.” Potter stared down Severus, who seemed to do his best not to jump them. Potter had the gift to make Severus want to start a fistfight. 

“Get lost, Potter. Take your idiot with you.” Lily replied calmly, though she did look up at Severus with a concerned look. Without another word, Black and Potter backed off, stumbling on their way out. Potter looked annoyed at our little table.

“Sev! Don’t!” Lily hissed. He looked up, still angry, but biting it back so he wouldn’t leash out at Lily.

“Wasn’t me.” He gritted out, staring at me. It’s not like I had intended for him to catch the blame. Lily just seemed to think it was far more likely that he would hex them than that I would. For a second, she seemed confused, before giving me a shove.

“Don’t you start this too. You’ll get in trouble, Belladonna.” Lily did live up to her big sister role.

“With Black and Potter? Let them come, I can handle them.” I told her self-assured. Maybe overestimating myself a little bit.

“They are a year above you, and whatever they may make you believe with their actions; they’re not stupid. They probably know a lot more spells than you do.” She reminded me, still annoyed, but once again focusing on her homework.

“Lily’s right. Severus, you should teach me some more spells.” I told the Slytherin at our table. He rolled his eyes, calmed down again.

“It’s for a good cause.” I reminded him, we both knew that Potter and Black were the ones who’d feel them first. That is, if Arcturus held his head down. That seemed enough to make him consider.   
“Wait. More spells? You’re teaching her curses?” Lily asked, talking right through me, staring Severus down with an annoyed look. I shrugged. Severus knew a lot of hexes and curses: why wouldn’t I be interested? More frustratingly, Severus seemed to go back on his idea to teach me hexes, now that Lily obviously disagreed.

“Talking about teaching, can either of you potion geniuses help me out a little bit? For some reason my potion keeps exploding, and at this rate Regulus might get a burn out.” I asked them, knowing that my actual education being in danger might snap Lily out of her annoyance.

Unfortunately, while potions might come naturally to her, explaining it wasn’t Lily’s best quality.

“But.. it’s.. It’s.. really easy. All you have to do is read and follow the instructions.” Lily said for about the fiftieth time after I told her how it went wrong in class that day.

“Well, something in the instructions isn’t right then.” I tried to defend myself.

“The books don’t always have the best instructions.” Severus nodded along with me, which was a save I hadn’t seen coming. Lily rolled her eyes. It seemed as if they had had this argument before.

“Following the instructions should not result into a blown up cauldron.” Lily snapped, apparently still a bit annoyed with us for not being reasonable about the hexing.

“Explain what you did.” She told me sternly. I honestly tried, but I really couldn’t imagen what I did different than the book. In the end, Severus lost all of his patience with me and dragged Regulus over.

“Sit down. Tell us what this nitwit does during potions classes that everything ends up in hell.” He snapped at the boy. Regulus eyed Lily, uncertain, and then looking around the library as if looking for a way to disappear. Regulus kept standing, making sure not to look at Lily too much. Apparently when he explained what I did, everything I did was obviously wrong.

“Really, Lily, you’re a sweetheart, but Potions comes too easy for you to be able to teach me anything.” I told Lily after what must be the hundred time she tried to walk me through the same potion. “At this point I prefer setting the potions classroom on fire and fail my class.” I sighed.

“Sev, you’re great at explaining.” Lily came to the conclusion that guilting Severus into helping me would be something everyone benefitted from. I would get better marks, Severus and I would spend some time and learn to get along without her -which had been proven to be… difficult sometimes- and she wouldn’t have to worry about me roaming the halls trying to hex Potter and Black. So for most of my first year, every Saturday morning was spend with Severus, trying to make sure I didn’t make potions with unwanted lethal consequences. I had to admit that Severus was a dedicated teacher; he had convinced Slughorn to allow us to use the potions room and every now and then the professor would come check my latest concoction. While Severus Snape wasn’t a kind teacher -I often found myself on the receiving end of some rather unflattering names- he was a good teacher, and lo and behold, my cauldrons stopped exploding. Despite Severus’ frustration with me, we started hanging out together more often, even if Lily didn’t always join us. That also meant that Severus taught me a few new spells, hexes or occasionally some curses, while Lily wasn’t there to protest. She seemed to think that Severus was the sole reason for my ..curiosity towards the darker arts, which is why she protested that much. For some reason I thought telling her I had always been curious would make it better. It didn’t. So every now and then, Lily, Severus and I found ourselves bickering about the use of magic, dark magic and what defines goodness and evil. And before we really noticed, Lily, Severus and I found ourselves in the Hogwarts express, on our way back to Cokeworth for another summer without magic. 


	5. A daughter's world

The little trip to Diagon Alley with Severus, Lily and mother, seemed to have become a yearly tradition. What I opened the door, very contrary to tradition, Lily’s mother was standing there too. Lily smiled sheepishly and ducked underneath my arm to get inside the house.

“Good morning, dear,” mother greeted the girl. Severus had arrived only minutes before them. Lily’s mother didn’t seem sure if she could enter.

“Can I … help you?” my mother asked a bit unsure when she noticed the woman standing in the doorway.

“Lily’s mother” I told her. Mother’s back straightened immediately, and she moved towards the door. 

“Ye.. yes, euhm…Sophia Evans.“ Lily’s mother smiled somewhat wobbly, her hand outstretched. It seemed so strange, but despite all the years Lily and I had been friends, and the fact that we were half-sisters, our mothers had never met. And it was noticeable. When my mother didn’t immediately respond, Sophia looked almost shocked and started apologising.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I’m not here to… I … Perhaps this was a bad idea.” Sophia managed to complete her sentence, and started turning around. I looked at Lily with confusion.

“Sophia?” My mother called out, a bit insecure, but not unfriendly. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Sophia seemed torn, but accepted mother’s invitation anyway. Her hands shook a little when she accepted the teacup that came flying at her. Thimble, wisely, stayed out of sight. Mother had told Lily, Severus and me to wait upstairs so they could talk freely. Curious as we were, we stayed close to the stairs to listen.

“I’m aware that you… might not … enjoy me showing up unannounced on your doorstep, but…” Sophia started. She sounded terribly insecure.

“I wondered if I could …. Join you, when buying the children’s school supplies?” the words suddenly rushed out. Mother stayed silent, as if waiting for more. Or maybe, she just didn’t know what to say.

“I know it might be a bit… weird, our daughters being …siblings and all. But… Edward seems to know a lot more about the world Lily is growing up with, and … to be franc, Edward and I drifted apart. I won’t let the same thing happen to Lily and me. So…” Sophia explained. It stayed silent for an excruciating amount of time.

“Did you know?” Severus mouthed at Lily. She averted her gaze, which said enough. Perhaps it would have been better if the three of us talked this over, and then involved our mothers, instead of forcing the two very uncomfortable ladies together. There was this little thing that while Lily’s father had also fathered me he had been, and still is married to Sophia.

“I guess that’s only fair.” Mother said eventually, calling the three of us down.

“Don’t act as if you didn’t listen in,” mother told us curtly. As always we went to London by floo network: Lily and Severus went first, then Mother with Sophia clutched to her arm and me last.

When arriving in Diagon alley, we were -off course- covered in sooth. Mother cast a cleaning charm, which only made Sophia stare at mother’s wand. Until she noticed her surroundings. Lily took her mother’s hand and gave her a little tour. She showed every little shop: the pet store where she got Specs, Olivanders,… She dragged her mother along with her. My mother looked with a fond smile at the enthusiastic redhaired girl.

“That was nice of you, to take her along.” I told her, knowing how she wasn’t really fond of muggles. Mother looked down at me and pulled me a bit closer to her.

“It’s not even about being nice. If I was her, I’d want there to be someone to take me along in your world too. I probably wouldn’t have dared to ask, though. I’m a Slytherin, not a bloody Lion.”

I let go of mother rather quickly. Not just because I didn’t want to be seen cuddling my mother in the middle of Diagon Alley when I was about to start my second year, but also because Severus looked a bit uncomfortable. I could understand it if he felt left out, or sad because his mother hadn’t come along. Eileen Snape liked her son a lot, but they weren’t well off and she tried to work as many jobs possible to make ends meet. She was very grateful that Severus could come along with us to go shopping. So I walked along with Severus and asked him some questions for my potions homework to distract him.

“Normally we go for ice cream, but with this foul weather, I’d prefer whiskey.” Mother announced. She steered us towards the Leaky Cauldron, ordering four butterbeers and a firewhiskey when we walked in.

“I hope you enjoyed our little trip to Diagon Alley.” Mother seemed to do her best to make conversation, despite the awkwardness that hung in the air. The conversation was short-lived when mother was greeted by none other than Orion Black.

“Athena, it’s been to long.” The man boomed. As if to honour his name, he was dressed in all black wizarding robes. Following the man, were Sirius and Regulus. I waved to Reg, who smiled slightly.

“I see you got roped into accompanying your young one as well, and more than that.” Orion Black laughed, looking around our little group.

“This must be the young miss Belladonna,” Mister Black exclaimed. I nodded. “Regulus has told me all about you, young lady, pictures and all.” Orion Black’s mood only became better, while his youngest son seemed to want to disappear. Sirius just stared from his father to his brother to me.

“And then you, must be Severus Snape.” Orion pointed at Severus, who nodded shortly but otherwise didn’t engage. He ignored Regulus’ hello in favour of angrily staring at Sirius Black.

“And this…?”

“Lily Evans, Sir. I’m in Sirius’ class. This is my mother Sophia.” Lily introduced herself, to be met with a wavering smile. Sirius’ already unhappy face, seemed to sour even more after that. Just when mother seemed to want to intervene, we were interrupted by jet another person.

“Sirius!” We heard someone call out, which made more than one person in the Leaky cauldron look up. Potter almost seemed to want to lunge himself at his friends, only to be held back by a man’s hand on his shoulder. His father, one would guess. James’ parents seemed quite a bit older than most of our parents.

“Evans and Evans! Always a pleasure.” Potter seemed to make some mockery bow before our little table. I rolled my eyes.

“Fleamont. Euphemia.” Orion and my mother nodded to them. Off course every pureblood knew most others, definitely the very wealthy Potter and Black families. Still, Orion Black was a lot less heartily to them then to my mother.

“Mrs Potter, you look as dashing as always.” Sirius smiled wide at the woman approaching, only to receive a kick from Potter.

“Don’t talk to my mother like that, you.” Potter remarked, a tad annoyed. Almost as if this happened more often.

“Do talk to his mother like that, my boy.” Euphemia laughed, at which I had to supress a little giggle, if only because of the face James pulled.

If just Sophia and my mother could have made the conversation awkward, throwing in two other pureblood families was worse. Sophia seemed to want to disappear, which is what we did once the boys and their respective families moved on to do their shopping.   
It was clear that this had been more than enough excitement for one day for Sophia. Severus immediately rushed home, muttering something about being late for dinner and that he’d be around. Just before Lily and her mother left, my mother pulled Sophia to the side. I could only just hear them.

“Not… I’m not one to talk to about this.. but, I just want you to know… That I didn’t… know… about your family. And once I knew…” I heard mother admit softly. Sophia nodded.

“I know. But thank you for telling me.”


	6. A matter of family

It seemed that this year, Petunia had been forced to come along with her parents to wave us goodbye as we left for Hogwarts. She was in a rather foul mood, but couldn’t help and stare when she reached platform nine and three quarters. For a second, she looked amazed, but then, looking at the three of us boarding the train, she looked rather.. angry. Particularly at Severus and I.

“She’s jealous,” Severus said to me, as if to make me feel better.

“She’s my sister too, you know, and she refuses to even talk to me.” I reminded him, sagging down into the comfy benches. Lily sighed.

“I know. She keeps telling me she’s got her eye on me, but apart from that, doesn’t really talk to me either.” Lily said, looking rather sad. Because I couldn’t figure out anything to make this situation better, I bought a lot of chocolate frogs for us to eat.

Not long after, the door of our compartment opened.

“Got any more room for two people that can’t find any seats?” I recognised the girl as Alice, the Gryffindor girl that Lily sometimes talked with, and that had joined us last year as well. She was a few years above Lily and Severus, but didn’t seem bothered by that at all. The boy with her introduced himself as Frank Longbottom. He was a Gryffindor as well.

“Why are there always more Gryffindors?” Severus sighed, rather dramatically if you asked me.

“Severus, be nice. Alice is a dear friend of mine, and if she brings along a friend, then he’s welcome too. Who cares what house they are in? We’re a combination of Gryffindor, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. We get along, don’t we?” Lily reminded him rather sternly.

“Boyfriend, actually.” Alice told Lily with a cute little smile, as if Severus hadn’t said anything. It was enough to cheer up Lily, who went on to ask way more into detail about their relatively new relationship. Apparently, Alice had been building up the courage to ask Frank out for a while, and he had surprised her over the summer. Frank was preoccupied with… looking at Alice, and it kind of left Severus and me out of the conversation for a while.

“Sounds nice enough, but give her a Gryffindor and it’s almost as if we were never here.” I mock complained to Severus, who rolled his eyes. Apparently he decided to ignore whatever was going on on the other bench, and started talking about a book he had found in the attic of his parental home. It had been from his grandmother, and had quite some interesting hexes in it. Now that peeked my interest. Apart from that one, there had been a few books that had his mother frown when she noticed him reading them, but she hadn’t actually told him not to. So he brought them with him to school as well.

“There is quite some wizard literature on muggles and such,” he told me. “And they have a different array of viewpoints, which is an interesting read.” Books were always something that seemed to bring Severus to life. But if Eileen frowned when she saw the books, I wondered how much of it was interesting, and how much was more of a disturbing thing to read.

“There are quite a few that point out specific muggle behaviours and such that I’ve noticed in my father, unfortunately. It does make me wonder even more why mother would ever want to… be associate with a muggle like him.” Severus said, softly off course. These were not thoughts he just… shared with anyone. His relationship with his father had never been great; and the years passing only seemed to be making that relationship more strained.

“She’ll have had her reasons to like your father,” I tried to assure him, but he seemed doubtful.

As per usual, Severus, Lily and I lived rather divided in Hogwarts, separated by our houses and our ages. So in the great hall, we sat at our tables, far away from the people we wanted to sit with most. Off course, Lily had Alice Fortescue and now Frank Longbottom, to keep her company, and Severus did get along with quite some Slytherins. Amongst them Regulus Black, but unfortunately also a few nastier types that I didn’t feel comfortable hanging out with. And while I didn’t want to sound pitiful, I wasn’t as lucky in my house. Most Ravenclaws saw a problem in my friendship with Severus and Regulus. With the exception of some Slytherins, Lily and me, the students seemed to avoid them because of their fascination for the dark arts. A lot of my classmates came to the conclusion that the dark arts was the only thing we had in common, which made me not very liked in my own house. They weren’t mean or anything, they just… steered clear off me.

I actually bothered to ask the prefects about it, on multiple occasions. Eventually, fed up with my repeated questions, they send me to the headgirl.

“I know you receive the prophet, so you’ve read the rumours. Something… dark’s brewing in Europe. Werewolves, giants and wizards are… said to be attacking muggles. There are some who protest, but also quite a few people -purebloods- who don’t see the harm in it, or are in favour of ‘mugglehunting’. Snape and Black, they seem.. pulled towards that darker side. it’s why people don’t want to be seen with them. ” The headgirl said. But while she seemed to want to give me the idea she didn’t mind explaining, I noticed that she stopped talking when others came near us. It sounded a bit like a taboo subject. And when I asked how excluding thirteen year olds would help, no answer came.

The year moved along smoothly, without that much trouble. The sole exception being some detention off course. As third years, Severus and Lily both had to pick their curriculum courses, which ended in different schedules. This made it more difficult for the three of us to be free on the same moments, and differences in homework and study time made the evenings not always as ideal for hanging out in the library. More often than not, I found myself with either Lily or Severus. Or, even more, just Regulus, when neither of my older friends were free.

That made it that only Severus was there when I opened the letter that I had received at dinner. Lily had to work on some group project for her herbology class, so she couldn’t join us, and Regulus was doing who knew what. I wasn’t used to receiving mail addressed to Belladonna Greengrass anymore; even mother opted for Evans, as school life had gotten me used to that name.

_Belladonna,_

_I’ll keep this short. Stay away from my family.  
You’ve managed to turn my sister away, and into a real Freak, and now you’re after mother. She told me she is considering divorcing my father. We both know that the only reason is you and your mother. Even Lily will surely agree that you’re to blame for this. This ends today. Stay away. _

_Don’t contact us._

_Petunia Evans_

“Anything important?” Severus asked when he saw me scanning the letter. I shrugged and threw the paper his way. Whatever he might say, he grabbed that paper way to fast for somebody who didn’t care. He frowned going over the text and looked over the edge of the paper at me.

“Called it. Petty, jealous little thing.” He said, emphasising each word. I knew Petunia wasn’t fond of me, but this was ridiculous. While I didn’t really feel responsible for anything, there was no denying that Mother or I hadn’t been a good thing for Sophia and Edwards marriage. But I guess right now Petunia was upset because her perfect life wasn’t perfect anymore.

“What will you do?” Severus asked, hunched over the table as if we were discussing some battle strategy. But this wasn’t the same as payback for Potter and Black.

“Nothing. She just needs a scapegoat, somebody to blame. And whatever I do, she’ll use it to ‘prove’ them that we’re the bad guys.” I said. Petunia had a thing for pitching people against each other, and I wasn’t going to play her game.

“You’re just going to let that slide? She said you turned Lily into a freak!” Severus raised his voice slightly, only to receive a grumpy look from Madame Pince. A few students looked interested our way, but a glance from Sev was enough to scare them off. 

“It’s not like Lily needs to know.” I told Severus, who looked even more surprised. He seemed in thought for a moment and continued a lot calmer.

“You’re not even going to tell her? What happened to no secrets between you two? I thought you were super close?” At this point he was just trying to get a rise out of me. I admit I tended to get reckless when things got heated, which is why I helped Severus out with most of his petty arguments with Potter and his friends. And so, the main reason for my detentions. I had promised mother to … try to think a bit more before I acted, so I wouldn’t let him get the better of me now.

“Who ever said the no secret thing?” I wondered. “I mean, I guess that’s the goal, but how attainable is that? It’s not like we share a brain. I don’t tell her about all the hexes and curses you taught me. Did you?” I asked, knowing fully well that he didn’t. Though asking Severus to keep anything from Lily was just impossible, unless I found something rather quick to bribe him with.

“You two are still doing that?” I heard the very familiar voice of a disgruntled Lily behind me. Severus closed his eyes and seemed to consider smashing his head on the table. Off course, he hadn’t been trying to get a rise out of me, he’d been trying to save his ass from Lily’s wrath. We didn’t bother defending ourselves, knowing fully well that Lily had made up her mind about it. I prepared myself for another lecture on ‘that’s dark stuff’ that I should stay away from and ‘didn’t your mother tell you to keep your head down? Is this keeping your head down? You’re more in detention then ever!’.

“You got a letter from Tuny?” Lily must have seen the envelope on the table and got side tracked. Off course she recognised the handwriting of her sister. She had a questioning look in her eyes; she was curious but if I really didn’t want her to know, she wouldn’t pry. But then what was the point? Make Lily feel left out? With a small sigh, I gave her the letter to read. To say Lily was angry, was an understatement. She seemed only a few shades away from Gryffindor-red.

“And that’s that.” If I could believe the state of Lily’s long red hair, she’d been vigorously working on something amazing. If I had to believe my own eyes, she had just spend the entire evening -one of the very few evenings without homework- on two letters. The first one had been a rather amazing piece of mind directed at Petunia, about how Lily did not agree that me or mother were to blame here, and how pointing fingers wasn’t helpful. Severus and I had enjoyed that one tremendously. We even offered a few extra additional lines here and there, but one look from Lily told us that those were not appreciated. Perhaps we were a bit rude in our enthusiasm. Het second letter had been addressed to her parents, where she wrote that obviously Petunia needed somebody to talk to about whatever was going on between them, and the fact that she and Lily were on different paths in life, and that they might have noticed if they weren’t so busy fighting amongst each other. 

“Severus, would you mind if I borrowed Asphodel from you? She’s so much faster than the school owls.” Lily asked, which off course would get a positive answer. Lately Severus seemed to fall over his own feet if he could help Lily with anything.

“I’ll send them.” He assured her, grabbing the letters from here and making his way to the owlery.

“He’s always so friendly.” Lily mused, happily gathering her supplies.

“He’s always so wonderfully head over heels for you, isn’t he?” I teased in that same content voice Lily had just used. She pursed her lips and shot me an unimpressed glance.

“We’re just friends. He would do exactly the same for you.” She said, not looking me in the eye. I hummed and gathered my homework and my books. Neither of us believed it.

In the end, the weather had taken a turn for better before Lily had received a letter back from her parents. Using one of the last free weekends before the examrush would start again, Lily, Severus and I had decided to spend some time outside. 

“Mother wrote back.” Lily told us, biting her lip slowly. Severus barely looked up from his book. He had already started studying for the exams, but graced us with his presence anyway.

“Obviously, they were rather annoyed with Petunia. They hadn’t known she had written, and they had a very stern talk about … you know, not taking things out on other people. And mom wants you to know that she doesn’t blame you or your mother at all, and that you’re a wonderful girl.” Lily told me with a bright smile. Right, because this wasn’t even a tad weird.

“Sev, I can hear you roll your eyes. Either join the conversation or read your book, but don’t try to multitask in such an annoying manner.” I told him off. To my surprise, he actually put the book away.

“I’ve been telling the two of you for years, she’s jealous. And she can’t help but be annoyed that the two of you are witches and she isn’t.” He added, helpful as always.

“Talking about that…” Lily started, sitting a bit closer and talking in a hushed voice. Not that there was anybody around to here us. The weather wasn’t as great as it had seemed at first.

“Mom told me that Petunia wrote a letter to Dumbledore, when I just received my letter, and then again, the year after, when Belladonna got hers. Apparently, she asked if she couldn’t attend Hogwarts too.” There was an almost guilty look in Lily’s eyes, as if this meant that it was unfair of her to be in the place where she belonged. For once, Severus kept his by now well known annoyance about Petunia for himself.

“Did Dumbeldore write back?” he asked instead.

“He wrote that Hogwarts could only allow people who’ve shown magical potential before. That it was highly unlikely that she would show magical potential, because she was already thirteen at that point, and off course muggleborn. And that magical family’s sometimes have children that don’t have magic either.” Lily told us, obviously still feeling bad for ‘leaving her sister behind’ as Petunia liked to remind her.

“Squibs,” Severus added. “I read a book last that went deeper into their existence. Said that squibs are an outing that there must have been a muggle or half-blood in the family tree. If it had always been pureblood, there wouldn’t have been squibs in the family.” He said.

“That’s idiotic, even in the sacred 28 there are squibs born.” I countered. Severus was already shaking his head vehemently, and was ready to retort when Lily came in between.

“The sacred 28?” she asked. Sometimes Severus and I forgot that Lily hadn’t been raised in a magical household. Right now, she seemed rather happy with the change of topic.

“Pureblood families that haven’t been tainted by muggles or half-bloods. Someone made a list of the families that have always been pureblood in a direct line, and came only to those 28 families. The last true pureblood families, hence sacred.” He explained, instead of going into the discussion with me.

“For Merlin’s sake, Severus, tainted? Thanks a lot. You’ve read a bit too much of that book.” I told him, before I got all of my attention on Lily again. Not all of the books that were of his grandmother were as great. 

“Anyhow, the Greengrass family is one of them, which is why mother barely took me to family gatherings. She, off course, knew that I was a half-blood, and seeing that she otherwise would have _announced_ me by my father’s pureblood name, most of them would have guessed that I’m not.” I said. She seemed to think stuff over for a second and turned to Severus again.

“But if, as Belladonna said, there are squibs being born in those 28 families, your book would only prove that there are no families left that don’t have muggles in their direct lines.” Lily told Severus, who seemed to do his best to swallow his pride and anger, and tried to go back to the book he had been reading.

“Whatever.” He mumbled, which was basically a flag of surrender. Lily rolled her eyes. Lately, Severus tended to just stop any discussion we had if he was on the losing end. And then mostly when we were discussing purebloods or something related.

“Please keep your head with the potion! Let’s leave the explosions in last year, shall we?” Regulus interrupted my thoughts. Just in time, I noticed, because my crushed beetles might actually have caused a rather hot reaction. Thanks to Severus’ extra classes last year, I now actually knew very well what made certain potions explode. I believe Regulus will always stay grateful for that one. When you don’t understand what to do, learn what you shouldn’t do. And who knew? Perhaps one day I could do something with my ability to make explosives.

“Sorry, just thinking about a discussion we had with Severus a few days ago.” I admitted, adding the right ingredient this time, and stirring three times clockwise.

“About?”

“Squibs. And purebloods.” I told him. Regulus smiled.

“Yeah, I head Snape complain about that one. He might not have worded the conclusion as well as he wanted to.” Regulus said with a smile.

“Nah, it’s just a flawed theory.” I said, dismissing the subject. Regulus stared at me for a bit and stayed silent for the rest of the class.

“Miss Evans, Mister Black, great progress on your potion. Let’s give you ten points each, then, shall we.” Slughorn told us while walking through the classroom. Some students were annoyed that Regulus and I often got double point awarded, instead of having our points divided between the two of us. Others, luckily, understood that this meant we got more house points. Someone ought to try to keep Gryffindor in check.

“I’m very happy that we’ve given up on trying to destroy my classroom.” Professor Slughorn smiled at me, looking like he expected me to laugh along with that hilarious remark about my potion problems. I just nodded and smiled, because what else was there to do?

“I heard from the other teachers that my class seemed to be your only victim though, nothing but praise to be heard about the academic achievements of miss Belladonna Evans” He said. There was gleam in his eyes when he said it, like a crow that had seen something shiny.

“I guess that can make up for some … generally less accepted behaviour.” He mused, after which he addressed Regulus. 

“Regulus, why don’t you take miss Evans along to my next soiree?” Slughorn went on to ask. Regulus smiled tightly and nodded.

“Off course, professor. I’d love to.” The boy answered. Professor Slughorn winked at Regulus and continued his round through the classroom. I’d heard this sort of conversations before with professor Slughorn: it was also exactly how Lily had become part of his ever growing “Slugclub”. Severus had been more than happy to take Lily along, but Regulus’ smile seemed a bit forced. I understood that while it was phrased as a suggestion, most students wouldn’t really say no to something like that. And definitely not Regulus Arcturus Black.

“You don’t really have to take me along if you don’t want to. I can tell him I was sick.” I assured Regulus once Slughorn was out of earshot. That caused a rather surprised look from my potions partner.

“Why wouldn’t I want to?” I have to say, the almost shocked tone was flattering. I shrugged.

“You didn’t seem that enthusiastic when Slughorn proposed.” I reminded him.

“Yeah, because everyone loves it when their teacher plays wingman to …help you ask out the… a girl.” I thought there might even be a slight blush on that usually pale complexion while he made his way through that trainwreck of a sentence. To be honest, I didn’t know what to respond to that, so I just smiled and shut my mouth. Regulus wasn’t the most confident boy, and he was sweet to me. We had been great friends for a while, so I thought why not? 

And so, after the exams were over, I donned a nice dress -that mother had send me once she heard of our plans- and accompanied Regulus Black to Slughorn’s party. I had known from the start that it would get me a few odd or unfriendly stares, but the outright stop and almost angry stare that we received from Regulus’ older brother was just unnecessary. But then, that seemed to be a trend amongst older siblings, because when we arrived, I saw Severus with a slight grin, and Lily… just stared. While I had told her I would be attending, I might have forgotten to mention that I would be accompanying Reg as his date.

“You look beautiful, Bells.” Lily said with a bright smile. Seeing as Regulus had uttered similar views on my appearance tonight, it must be quite surprising to people. My eyes found Lily’s shoes, and my hands seemed to want to re-iron my dress. A nervous fidgeting I hadn’t expected from myself. Luckily Regulus saved me by dragging me along to the next group of people to talk to.

By the end of the evening, Regulus walked me back to the Ravenclaw common room. I hadn’t wanted to make it too late because tomorrow morning we’d leave for London again.

“I had fun tonight.” I told him. He smiled sweetly.

“Might sound as some sorry afterthought, but I had been… planning on … you know, asking you along to one of his parties. For a while.” Regulus eventually told me with a slight blush. And with that, he kissed me.

“Just in case I don’t see you before we leave,” he told me with a slight grin, after which he left for the dungeons.


	7. A summer's annoyance

I admit, I wasn’t that attentive to my friends on our way back to Cokeworth. Regulus had left me in a pretty… confused state after the party. I hadn’t expected him to kiss me, or you know… like me like that. We had been great friends, yeah, but like this? Had I missed some clues along the road? Knowing that Lily wasn’t going to be much help, I cornered Snape after breakfast.

“You’re asking me… for love advise?” Severus sounded as if he’d rather have me ask if I could use him as a test subject for a new sort of potion I concocted.

“No, I’m asking you if I missed something that would make Reg want to kiss me.” I hissed back, a lot more silent then he had been.

“Possibly. But then Regulus is … not always as clear in what he wants.” Severus admitted. Great.

“I mean, I knew he had a thing for you, but I didn’t think he’d do anything with it.” He added.

“You could have told me… Wait, why wouldn’t he do anything? Am I that unapproachable? We do sit together in class every day, you know?” I wondered suddenly. Severus grinned.

“Second guessing your charm?” he teased. “No, with Black being the pain in the ass that he is, Regulus has quite some pressure from his parents to uphold the name. If Sirius runs of with anything less than a pureblood, Regulus is the only one who can pass on the Black name in a way that they’ll stay part of the sacred 28.” Severus explained. And off course, I didn’t fit in that nice pureblood dream.

“So, don’t get too attached. Got it. Thanks, Sev.” I told him, maybe a bit harsher than I should have.

“Regulus is going to kill me if he finds out.” I heard Severus mutter to himself, while each of us were off to pack the last of our stuff.

Off course, I couldn’t dream of not being confronted by Lily when I found an empty compartment in the train.

“Had fun yesterday?” was the greeting I got. I looked over at the redhead; she obviously didn’t get her beauty sleep, if I could believe that cranky demeanour.

“Yes, Slughorn’s parties are a surprising amount of fun. How long were you going to keep them from me?” I wondered with a smile, because for a change, I wasn’t the one with the foul mood.

“Don’t know, how long were you going to wait with telling me about you and Regulus Black?” Lily returned the favour. 

“There’s not that much to tell about Reg and me. I accompanied him to the party, because Slughorn asked me to.” I told her, which wasn’t that much of a far stretch of the truth. I hoped that with Severus arrival, complaining about something something that ended with ‘blasted Potter’, would be enough to distract my dearest sister. But no such luck.

“Sure. Well, you seemed to have loads of fun for just being there because of Slughorn.” Did she too run into Potter this morning? Would be one way to explain her mood.

“Severus, what do you think about this?” Lily asked, trying to get some help from someone that she knew would be on her side.

“Mmm? Don’t know. Regulus is an okay guy, good family, definitely not stupid…” Severus admitted, much to Lily’s chagrin. Then he shot me a knowing glance. “They have great potential. But…I’m not so sure about how it’ll play out in the end.” 

“Thank you. See, even Severus thinks it’s a bad idea.” Lily gloated. I rolled my eyes.

“I get it, Lily, you’re her sister, but she’s also thirteen. Belladonna’s old enough to know who she should and shouldn’t snog.” And with that, Severus -possibly inadvertently- threw me under the bus.

“Thanks a lot, Severus. I’ll remember this next time you need some help.” I snapped, even though I wondered if he even heard me through Lily’s loud exclaimed “You guys snogged!?” That one sentence, off course, had the power to summon even more bystanders. And so, in the doorway, were standing Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew.

“Oh, gossip. Who snogged who?” Black laughed. When his eye fell on Severus, Potter snickered.

“Ew, I hope no one had to suffer through snogging little Snivellus.” Was Potters bright addition, which he accompanied by some weird, mostly disgusted faces.

“Get lost, Potter.” I snapped in Severus stead, which earned me a foul glare. Oh, right, got to let the boys stand up for themselves. Egos could be wounded so easily.

“Rather kiss him than you, Potter.” Lily clapped back, and truly, where might Severus get his hope?

“Alright, you’re obviously mad, so you didn’t get to snog anyone.” Black deduced, pointing at Lily. “Nobody in their right mind would snog, Snape, so there is only one person left. Who did you snog, Little Evans?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows like an idiot. I favoured looking out of the window, admiring the view, over having to deal with them any longer.

“Come on, boys, leave the girls alone.” I heard Lupin say, and in the reflection of the window saw him pull slightly on Potters shoulder as if that would ever be enough to drag his friend along.

“Good call, Lupin. And while you’re at it, keep Blacks brother away from Belladonna, will you?” Lily asked, as if that would make them leave. Off course that had the opposite effect.

“You snogged Regulus?” I have to say, Black’s shock was almost insulting. And true, I might not be head over heels with Reg, but he didn’t deserve anyone talking about him like that.

“Prefer him over you,” I mingled in the conversation again. Potter snickered again. Black seemed to still be processing what Lily had told him.

“If you have to kiss a Black, I’d advice going for this one over the other.” Potter said with a way to big grin.

“Off course you’d be the one to judge, seeing as you and Black kiss each other’s asses on a daily bases.” I said, closing the door with a flick of my wand. I almost managed to slam Potter -or at least his fingers- along with it, but that would make the start of the summer too good. Lupin managed to drag along his band of misfits.

“So, Summer plans?” Severus asked, trying to divert the tension.

“Hmm, I think it’ll consist out of proving Belladonna that she’s making one of the worst decisions of her live. So, saving her from Black.” Lily said in a light-hearted tone. Severus seemed to do his best not to sigh in frustration. And I was going to have to put up with it.

Lily’s first plan of attack was off course telling on parents. Her parents didn’t really react when Lily, full of horror, told them about some seriously overexaggerated make-out sessions with Regulus that she made up.

“Ah, young love….” Had been Sophia’s reaction, probably in part to vex her daughter, but she seemed happy for me. Sophia then went on to warn Lily that it wasn’t always the best to react too negatively when confronted with a sisters’ lover. Lily seemed horrified at the thought of Regulus as a lover, and that description proved that Sophia didn’t remember Regulus from last summer.

“Mum doesn’t understand. Regulus Black is like… I don’t know, Slytherin royalty? And seriously into purebloods and dark stuff.” Lily whined while making homework at our kitchen table. It was the best place to do schoolwork, as my mother didn’t mind that much If we used some magic. Our traces would be ignored as we were in a registered magical household.

“Your mother has more patience and perspective.” Mother said with a kind smile, ignoring all the Slytherin and pureblood stereotypes that Lily had thrown around. Lily tended to forget that my mother belonged in all those categories. 

“You’re all still very young, Lily. It’s not like Belladonna’s out to get married, and not everyone marries the first person they fall in love with. Who are we to tell her that she can’t look around before she settles?” Mother asked her as if I wasn’t there. Who’d known that my mother was that progressive?

Lily had’t exaggerated when she said she’d keep going. Even when Severus, Lily and I were enjoying a calm afternoon out in the garden, she kept going on and on about it. Probably because Thimble -quite happily- told her that I’d been receiving letters ‘from the Black household’. I couldn’t hold back a groan when she started about Regulus again. Not so surprising, even Severus was fed up with it.

“You’re turning Regulus into a forbidden fruit.” He warned her. “If you keep nagging, she’s going to take this to the next level just to annoy you in return.” Severus said, glaring through the leaves as if the sun had decided to shine extra bright just to vex him. I was about to jump in and defend myself, but Severus was faster.

“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t, Bell. You are that petty. If she told you to stay away from Potter or Black like this, you’d start to consider hanging out with them.” Severus reminded me. He might have a point there. And if this is what made Lily shut up...

“I’m sure Potter and Black have very redeeming qualities.” I teased Lily, only to giggle when I saw the disgusted face she pulled. 

“Don’t you have homework to make?” she tried to get away from the conversation she started.

“And maybe now you’ll listen…” This was my moment to explain. “Regulus kissed me after the party, and I haven’t really talked to him since. We’ve just written a few letters about our holidays, and about how ridiculous it is to make defence against the dark arts homework when we’ll have a new teacher next year anyway. It’s not like I promised him babies and all.” I assured her. Lily still didn’t seem happy, but she calmed down enough that not every conversation had to be about my apparently very interesting love live.

“So, you don’t mind a Black? Or are you that confident that either of us is going to fall in love with somebody else any minute now?” I asked mother a few days before I’d return to Hogwarts. She had barely mingled in any conversation about Reg, only telling Lily to try to be calm. She kept her face neutral and held her opinion very much to herself during the summer.

“I want you to be happy. If Regulus makes you happy, then why not?” She told me, but there was something in her eye that said there was more. So I waited.

“I won’t tell you how to live your live, Belladonna. Find the friends you like, chose the lover you want, and live your life without regrets.” I had to admit I pulled a Lily-face there. There really was something terribly wrong about your mother talking about ‘lovers’.

“Al I want for you to be happy, and to be safe. No, I haven’t told you to stay away from Regulus, mostly because I’m a bit afraid that Walburga Black will make that point to excess. The Blacks are very much into keeping bloodlines pure, and pureblood supremacy. I don’t know how Regulus thinks about that, but that could be a big thing. And Severus has a point, you tend to be a bit reckless, and change your life around in the blink of an eye. Who knows what happens next week?” She teased me. 


	8. Don't mention the war

When mother and I apparated onto platform nine and three quarters, a woman with a toddler almost seemed to shriek. Not the normal reaction to an apparating witch, definitely not on the first of September near the Hogwarts express.

“What’s wrong with her?” I wondered out loud, while mother made my trunk appear. She looked down at me, maybe a tad disapproving.

“Haven’t been keeping up with the news, have you?” She asked, surveying the platform. She did that too when we went to Diagon Alley. Actually, any place we went lately. How didn’t I notice that before?

“There are those that would … disrupt our society, and replace it with their ideal world.” Mother told me in a hushed voice, not taking her eyes off the people on the platform while we waited for the train to be cleared for entrance. We always arrived too early; no rush, and a guaranteed seat for me.

“Their ideal world? Far less homework, more free time and lot’s of chocolate?” I might have not taken it as seriously as I should, that’s true, but I was young, and eagerly waiting for my friends to show up. Mother shot me a warning glance, and cast a spell so that we couldn’t be overheard.

“These are no matter’s to take lightly, Belladonna. Their ideal world is a that of purebloods who dominate everyone around them, where half-bloods like you always are one step below, or even forbidden. A world in which girls like Lily are persecuted or worse.” She suddenly told me, still looking a bit weary at anyone that came too close. Where had this suddenly come from?  
“There are quite a few pureblood families who agree with this idea, including a big part of ours. They band together, following a man that calls himself Voldemort, and are launching attacks all over Europe. They’ve declared war on those who defy them, Belladonna, and they are recruiting.” She said.   
For a while we stayed silent. Mother tried to calm down, and I mulled over everything she suddenly told me. Off course, mother had told Lily and me to watch out, and for years now, she told us there was a war brewing but… I hadn’t noticed. I had heard about attacks on Muggles far away, yes, and of growing weariness, but not to this extend. I remembered mother telling me about how she heard of Grindelwald wreaking havoc all over when she grew up, but it never sounded like she had been in danger. A part of me wondered how bad this war really could be? Nevertheless, mother seemed on edge about it, and that meant something.

“They wouldn’t recruit me, would they?” I wondered, imagining being called upon to fight. I hadn’t even learned how to duel properly. Mother seemed to think it over.

“They might. You have the potential of a great witch, and a half-blood is still better than a muggleborn in their eyes.” She told me. “Just watch out. With what you do, and who you associate with. Don’t frequent the company of those that preach violence or look down upon others for whatever reason.” Mother told me. More and more students started arriving, and mother undid her spell.

“No more of this now, also not in writing. We’ll talk when you’re back from school. Just keep your head down and look out for each other.” And with that the conversation was finished. 

“Athena, this time no flock of children around you?” I heard a woman call out. When I looked around, there was a stately woman standing a few feet away from mother. Neither her tone of voice, nor her demeanour made her sound or look like a friendly woman. Regulus was standing in front of her, her fingers almost seemed to be digging into his shoulder like a claw. At least one person missing, I mused, looking around to find Sirius Black looking away, with his back turned towards his family. With how hostile his mother felt, I almost couldn’t blame him for being as horrible as he was. Almost.

“I don’t mind Belladonna’s friends tagging along, but in the end, I only have one daughter, Walburga. Don’t you ever take friends of your sons along?” mother asked sweetly, but I could feel her annoyance. While she could still enjoy a conversation with Orion, mrs Black was another matter

“Well I’m not one to care for anyone else’s children; what else do we have house elves for, after all? I guess that Regulus’s friends wouldn’t have to be that bad, but the other one would have me associate with bloodtraitors and mudbloods.” Walburga Black wasn’t as loud when she was before, as if telling my mother about some horrible secret. By now, Sirius obvious dislike of his family was well known. 

“I believe it’s time for you to board the train, my dear.” I heard mother say. She bend down to kiss me on my cheek, and whispered “Unfortunately, that’s what I meant” into my ear. She then pushed me towards the train. When Regulus was about to walk with me, his mother’s hand tightened on his shoulder and my mother started asking him if he was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts. Not really what I expected, but I knew when I was being told to leave. At least this way, I had a free compartment for Lily, Severus and I. While I was making myself comfortable, I noticed Sirius Black walking in the corridor of the train. He smiled when he noticed me, and off course had to open the compartment door.

“Like what you see, Little Evans?” he laughed. For a second he sounded carefree as usual, but there was a certain…emptiness in his eyes. I recognised it from when Severus was looking at Lily when she said goodbye to her parents.

“If you don’t have anything to say, it’s better to just shut up, Black.” I told him. “Or better, to keep walking.” I said. Black seemed to think for a second and looked me over.

“Your mother is smart woman.” He told me eventually. Not something I had expected from him.

“I know. But why bring it up now? I thought Potter’s mother was the one for you.” I said, remembering how Potter looked on in horror when Black kisses Potter’s mother’s hand before they left at the beginning of summer. That got me a little chuckle from the boy.

“Don’t let James hear you.” He laughed again. “No, your mother is watching out for you, tries to keep you away from bad company, like Regulus and my mother.” He said far more serious all of a sudden.

“I don’t know. Don’t think she minds Reg. At least he isn’t trying to tell me who to hang out with.” I said, remembering him telling me to stay away from “Regulus, but all Slytherins actually” in my first year. My mood was taking a turn for the worst.

“You sure?” he asked, staring out off the window to his little brother. Black nodded a few times to himself, and left the compartment.

“See you around, Evans.” I heard him call out.

“Was that Black?” I suddenly heard Lily ask. She looked at me with a confused face. Not the Black she expected? Or perhaps because neither of us had our wands drawn?

“What did he want?” Severus immediately asked, a lot harsher.

“The same as usual, just being annoying.” I muttered, staring out of the window. My mother was still standing with Walburga Black, but her posture screamed how uncomfortable she was. A bit away, I could see Edward and Sophia Evans standing. Lily’s father was staring at my mother and Mrs Black with a deep frown on his face. Sophia only had eyes for us and waved when she saw me look her way.

“Did you finish all your homework?” Lily asked with a knowing smile. So maybe she had reminded me last week, which caused me to remember that I wasn’t entirely finished and I hadn’t been able to hang out that much with her and Severus because of it. But then, with Liliy’s complaints about Regulus, writing letters to Reg and Mother showing me a few spells over the summer, I barely had any time for homework.


End file.
